Do you want wealth or comfort?
While writing my books, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my good and bad financial decisions and the luck I had along the way. As I sit here now, 6 years into retirement, I still wonder - how did I get here? That question is not easy to answer because money comes to us in different ways: through a career, smart investing, inheritance, or frugal living over decades. While we have some influence over our chosen career and how we spend money, the luck in our genes and our time in history also plays a significant role. Some get wealthy through hard, focused effort; others get there by being in the right place at the right time. However, most people can achieve comfort through the choices they make, even when they face bad luck or misfortune.
You’ll probably agree that achieving financial comfort is more difficult in America today. A recent Pew Research Center headline read, “For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged in decades.” While the average may not have declined, that’s not the experience of those with below-average wages in professions or jobs that aren’t keeping up. While the top 10% is doing great, many in the lower 90% are treading water to avoid getting worse off. Comfort feels out of reach when you’re living paycheck to paycheck.
To be clear, financial comfort isn’t about making it into the top 10% or even about owning a home with 2 cars in the garage. It’s knowing that for almost any financial emergency, you can handle it - through savings or credit - and recover from the setback. Financial comfort is sleeping well at night, not worried that bills are piling up or that if the market crashes, you’ll have to delay retirement by a few years. Financial comfort doesn’t have to mean a big vacation every year, but when you do vacation, the cost doesn’t ripple through credit card balances for months. Financial comfort starts with the concept of “enough,” with anything more providing increased security or charity rather than accumulating wealth for more consumption or the pursuit of even more wealth. With this definition, most won’t achieve financial comfort until later in life, maybe even years into retirement.
Your decision to pursue wealth or comfort may also be shaped by conscious or unconscious choices. Would you do anything or go anywhere in your chosen career to reach the highest levels and the money that comes with it? Or would you stay in a job to give your children more stability as they grow up? Do you really believe that great wealth is what you want, or is it just being very comfortable? How far would you go in sacrificing or risking your family or finances to achieve that wealth, since achieving great wealth can also entail greater risk? And we know that driven high achievers follow a different set of rules than the rest of us - are you okay with that?
While you might think of a certain number as individual wealth, you should also have a number for comfort. But it’s more than one number. What do you consider a livable level of income, sufficient emergency and retirement savings, and an amount of credit available? Basically, a financial picture that reflects the definition of comfort. Then decide whether this definition of comfort is really what you want vs. being wealthy, because that answer will lead you down different paths.
When comfort is the focus, your life will be more balanced. You’ll manage your money better for today and tomorrow because you’ll know it’s limited. You’ll allocate your time among work, family, and fun rather than just work. Your expectations will be lower, so your goals are achievable, and you’ll see progress toward those lower but sufficient goals. Comfort might be a paid-off tiny house in the woods or a 3-bedroom on a tree-lined suburban street rather than a large, expensive 6-bedroom beach house. It might also be the steady growth of modest savings and investments while accepting lower wages in a more fulfilling job. Like Marie Kondo’s method of keeping only the possessions that bring you joy, pursuing comfort can be simpler than pursuing wealth and can bring more joy.
For some, they’re already comfortable and focus on staying that way, happy with the situation. If they accumulate more money than needed for comfort, it’s not that they are becoming wealthy so much as it provides greater financial security. Others might need to work harder and longer to reach that financial comfort point, so the task is to figure out what that means for them and what it will take to get there. And remember, you don’t have to be wealthy to be successful. A life well lived, productive and in service of others, is success in my book, not how much money is in the bank.
Pursue wealth if you want, but understand the risks, the work, and the luck involved in getting it, or set your sights on achievable comfort. Wealth can change people, for better or worse. Being financially comfortable is not failure but a true reflection of your success. As I said, it can be “enough.” So, it’s your call whether to pursue wealth or comfort.
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